Newly Planned $40 Million Birthing Center will Serve Hanford Families
HANFORD – Officials from Adventist Health announced plans and unveiled renderings for a new $40 million Family Birth Center that would be the new location for obstetrics and delivery services for families in Kings County.
The new 49,000-square-foot building with 34 private rooms will be built adjacent to Adventist Medical Center-Hanford. It will replace the current facility at Central Valley General Hospital, just two miles away, and groundbreaking is expected to take place in spring of 2013. Plans are for the old building to remain an outpatient clinic.
“Once the building is complete the plan would be a transfer process and a conversion, but it would be a very rapid turnover,” said Wayne Ferch, president and CEO of Adventist Health/Central Valley Network.
Dr. Richard Ellsworth, obstetrician/gynecologist and chief of medical staff at the hospitals will be starting his 24th year at Central General Hospital. He says more local women have been choosing to have their childbirth take place in places like Fresno and Visalia, and hopes that the new Family Birth Center, which will offer a nicer experience for families, will change that. The current facility, he says, is “on its last legs.”
“There’s just a lot of wear and tear,” Dr. Ellsworth said. “Old pipe systems, old electrical systems. It’s very important in the community to continue to provide health care and deliveries.”
The next step is to find a local builder for the Family Birth Center, which would not be hard to find, Ferch said. He says builders are already lining up, eager to put in their bids. When planning the new birthing center Hanford area growth projections over the next 10 to 20 years were taken into account.